St Helier officials say the number of drivers being spotted ignoring no-entry signs around Gas Place, which made headlines last month, has plummeted but now they are struggling to combat a rise in hundreds of motorists using Common Lane as a cut-through from Stopford Road.
The lane, a narrow residential road between Stopford Road and Oxford Road, is no entry except for access to premises.
Silvio Alves, director of technical and environmental services for St Helier, said hundreds of drivers a week were breaking the law by driving down the road – often at high speed. He added that many were doing it to access the Co-op Grand Marché because they were too lazy to drive around the St Helier ring road or were not familiar with parish roads.
Extra honorary police patrols are being put on in the area to try to catch offenders, who are being warned they face a fine of up to £1,000 if they are caught.
Mr Alves said: ‘The parish will not tolerate this and will seek to prosecute drivers. We have had so many complaints about the volume and speed of traffic going down that lane from residents. We have even had people driving up Common Lane the wrong way and putting their foot down when they realise they they have made a mistake.’
In September, parish authorities blocked traffic from driving down Gas Place and onto Oxford Road as part of safety changes recommended in the wake of the death of three-year-old Clinton Pringle in nearby Tunnell Street.
It means that that drivers coming up Bath Street can no longer cut through Gas Place to get to the Co-op. Instead, if a motorist is in Bath Street they should turn right at St Mark’s Road, follow the one-way system past Springfield and around onto St Saviour’s Road and turn into Rue Le Masurier, before the Animals’ Shelter, and into the store on Avenue et Dolmen du Pré des Lumières.
Mr Alves added that the parish was now seeing an extra 300 cars a week travelling down Common Lane – up from from 600 to 900.
‘We believe this increase is from motorists not realising that Gas Place is closed to through traffic who want to access the supermarket and not having good local road knowledge.’ Asked if he thought it was also a case of drivers being lazy, Mr Alves said he did ‘and we won’t stand for it’.
Mr Alves said the parish was now considering further changes to Oxford Road and would consult businesses and residents in the area. One of the changes being considered is making the section of Oxford Road outside Indigo House doctor’s surgery a two-way, so those accessing the surgery would not be tempted to use Common Lane but could access it from Avenue et Dolmen du Pré des Lumières.
